Sadza in appearance is a thickened porridge. A thinner form of sadza, "porridge", is cooked with peanut butter or margarine and eaten in the mornings occasionally. The most common form of sadza is made with white maize (Mealie-Meal). This maize meal is referred to as hupfu in Shona or impuphu in Ndebele. Despite the fact that maize is actually an imported food crop to Zimbabwe (circa 1890), it has become the chief source of carbohydrate and the most popular meal for indigenous people. Locals either purchase the meal in retail outlets or produce it in a grinding mill from their own maize.

Zimbabweans prefer white maize meal. During times of famine or hardship they resort to eating yellow maize meal, which is sometimes called "Kenya," because it was once imported from that nation.

Before the introduction of maize, sadza was made from finger millet flour instead.

Sadza is commonly eaten from a communal bowl, but can also be served on separate plates. It is generally eaten with the right hand without the aid of cutlery; often rolled into a ball before being dipped into a variety of condiments such as meat, sauce/gravy, lacto/sour milk or stewedvegetables.

Other food stuffs include intestine (Tripe) (offal- ezangaphakathi (includes amathumbu, amaphaphu, isibindi, utwane, ulusu, umbendeni) in Ndebele) known as matumbu, sun-dried vegetables known as uMfushwa/Mufushawa, and many more